Earfood vinyl

Now reissued by Universal comes a delicious drip-fed cochlear tray of delights from New York jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove and his quintet, first released in 2008. Perhaps one of the smoothest hard bop records there is, this one enjoins us to both eat and listen clean. Notable for its inclusion of the composition 'Strasbourg/St. Denis', which has since gone on to become a modern-day jazz standard, Hargrove lays a well-ribbed pastry base for producer Larry Clothier to work his magic upon; 'I'm Not So Sure' and 'Joy Is Sorrow Unmasked' are the wisened aftertastes that follow, neither totally rejecting nor cloying to the jazz precedents of old (though it could've believably been released much long ago).